The podcast episodes discuss how policies and efforts that are intended to achieve certain goals, such as gun control and protecting vulnerable groups, can sometimes have unintended consequences that undermine the original intent or even cause harm to the very people they aim to help.

For example, the episode 'The Afterlife of a Gun' examines how a policy to destroy guns surrendered to authorities was being undermined, as the businesses hired to destroy the guns were only destroying the core components and selling the remaining parts, which could then be reassembled into new guns, counteracting the original purpose of getting guns off the streets.

Similarly, the episode 'Bonus Sample #284 First they came for the Italian babies' explores how policies ostensibly aimed at protecting certain groups, such as restrictions on LGBTQ families in Italy, can have unintended consequences that harm marginalized communities.